Rocky, The Raucous

They said Rocky was a "counter-surfer" when it came to food. A gross understatement, I'm sure. A "counter-marauder" is a more apt nomenclature. But what a sweetheart too, as I learned on Saturday, March 5th, when Carol and I traveled to Allentown, PA, to pick up Rocky, The Raucous. He was listed as a "Puggles" breed. Definitely part pug, but what the "gles" stands for, I have no clue. From Allentown, we were to take Rocky to the capitol of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, which is about in the middle of this rather humongous state. The total round trip would be almost 300 miles. But I was anxious to do another transport, and none had come my way yet from my usual transport group.

Rocky was given up by his owners after four years, as they are expecting a baby, and with Rocky's avaricious appetite and lack of manners when it comes to food, they felt he was too much to handle with a new baby on its way. What a bunch of hooey! If they had only taken the time to train him, he'd be the model of a big furry brother to the new baby, but that's just my humble opinion. It's obvious they made lots of mistakes, as Rocky is a little porker. But a very lovable one! Could you possibly pass up a face like this one?

Rocky seemed overjoyed to see both Carol and me. He treated us like we were long, lost friends. He gave us the pleasure of petting him, and shyness was not in his repetoire. He came with his own bag of food, which had to be kept in the trunk of the car, but as we transferred the bag into my car, he took giant leaps to try to get into the trunk. For an overweight dog, he had some pretty good moves. He finally settled for a drink of water, a brief walk, he did his thing, and we transferred over all his belongings. He jumped right into the backseat of my car, trusting soul that he is, and we were off.

Next thing we knew, Rocky The Raucous was sound asleep in the backseat. Surprisingly, he didn't snore. And he didn't move a muscle for the next hour and a half, until we pulled into the Burger King parking lot to meet his next transport drivers -- whom he greeted as though they were long, lost friends. He gave them the pleasure of petting him. (And Carol and I thought he only had eyes for us!) After drinking some water, taking a brief walk, doing his thing, trying to jump up into the back of their vehicle for his newly transferred bag of food, he jumped into the front seat, trusting soul that he is, and smiled for my camera -- and was off on his next leg of his trip, heading for Ohio. Rocky is such a lovable character, and with a little training and a proper diet, he'll soon be known as Rocky The Wonderful.